Ready to join? Get started

Nursery FAQ

Our mission is to help independent nurseries thrive. We provide free access to our full-featured, mobile-friendly e-commerce platform through our website where millions of gardeners are already searching for plants.

What is Plant Lust?

A platform for mail-order nurseries to sell plants. It is free to list unlimited plants and we offer a sliding scale for fees on plants sold, so each nursery can sell profitably.  See an example of a nursery shop on our site.

Who is eligible to sell on Plant Lust?

Plant Lust provides a marketplace for nurseries with existing mail order or wholesale operations. You do not need a website or catalog of your own so long as you can provide us with your listings, prices, and sizes. 

We guarantee delivery of correctly identified healthy plants to our customers, and we ask our partner nurseries to honor this guarantee.

We ask that you stay in communication to confirm order shipments, or promptly notify us of delays or out of stock items, so we can communicate order status with customers in a timely fashion.

How do I set up sales through Plant Lust?

Complete the nursery sign up form to specify your listing and payment details.

We will send your sales via email, or if arranged in advance, integrated with your existing sales system (subject to platform capabilities).

How do fees work?

You set the prices for your plants and shipping. Listings are free. Plant Lust collects a percentage of sales. When you sign up, you specify whether you would like to deduct our fee from your monthly payout, or charge your customers markup to cover some or all of the fee.  

What can I sell on Plant Lust?

Plant Lust exclusively sells plants. Plants may be sold in pots or with accessories, but we do not sell tools or accessories independent of plants.

How do I ship Plant Lust orders?

If you already have shipping prices and process established, you share those details with us and we use your existing shipping process. If you don’t already have a shipping process, check out shipping ideas in the “new to mail order” section on this page. 

When you ship, you include Plant Lust packing slip with orders.

I'm new to mail order, how should I charge for shipping?

Nurseries typically negotiate the most favorable rates with their preferred shipper, but ground shipping via USPS and UPS are the most common options. You’ll want to plan for shipping options that allow your plants to be timely and safely delivered to customers, usually avoiding weekend or holiday stopovers that could damage plants en route.

It’s important for each nursery to design an optimal profitable pricing structure that works with their individual margins, since nurseries are unique. We see commonly see and accommodate several different pricing approaches:

1. Build the cost of shipping into the charge of the plant, so the plant costs more and shipping is free. Customers are generally happier with lower shipping charges even when the plant cost is higher. 
2. Calculate a ballpark estimate such as x% of the order’s dollar value, so your averages cover your costs. 
3. Set up a shipping rate table, for instance, orders under $50 ship for $20, orders up to $300 ship for $65, orders over $300 ship free. You can opt to vary these rates based on customer location, so you could for instance say Texas shipments are $20, while New York shipments are $100.
4. Estimate the actual USPS/UPS rates with shipment size and weight. For this option, we need to know what size boxes you ship, and how many plants fit per box.

How do you handle customer communications

We assist with customer communications whenever possible. We answer basic customer questions when we’re able. For instance, if your shipping window is May – October, we will tell customers this info. We’ll forward any customer questions only you can answer. We can also ask customers questions on your behalf as needed.

Still have questions? Contact Us